Sunday evening June 19

Preparation

Opening response

O God, make speed to save us.O Lord, make haste to help us.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God, creator of day and night:to you be praise and glory forever.As darkness falls you renew your promiseto reveal among us the light of your presence.By the light of Christ, your living Word,dispel the darkness of our heartsthat we may walk as children of lightand sing your praise throughout the world.Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Blessed be God forever.

Hymn

Father, Hear the Blood of Jesus

Oh, receive us to thy favor,For his only sake, receive;Give to us the bleeding Savior,Let us by his dying live.

“To thy pardoning grace receive them,”Once he prayed upon the tree;Still his blood cries out “Forgive them;All their sins were laid on me.”

Still our Advocate in heavenPrays the prayer on earth begun,“Father show their sins forgiven;Father, glorify thy Son!”

Confession of sin

Let us confess our sins to God.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

My God, for love of youI desire to hate and forsake all sinsby which I have ever displeased you;and I resolve by the help of your graceto commit them no more;and to avoid all opportunities of sin.Help me to do this,through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord enrich us with his grace,and nourish us with his blessing;the Lord defend us in trouble and keep us from all evil;the Lord accept our prayers,and absolve us from our offenses,for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior.Amen.

The Word of God

Psalm 50

Refrain:Offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving!

From the rising of the sun to where it sets, God, the Lord God, speaks, calling out to the earth.From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines brightly.Our God is coming; he won’t keep quiet.A devouring fire is before him; a storm rages all around him.God calls out to the skies above and to the earth in order to judge his people:“Bring my faithful to me, those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”The skies proclaim his righteousness because God himself is the judge.“Listen, my people, I will now speak; Israel, I will now testify against you. I am God—your God!I’m not punishing you for your sacrifices or for your entirely burned offerings, which are always before me.I won’t accept bulls from your house or goats from your corrals because every forest animal already belongs to me, as do the cattle on a thousand hills.I know every mountain bird; even the insects in the fields are mine.Even if I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you because the whole world and everything in it already belong to me.Do I eat bulls’ meat? Do I drink goats’ blood?Offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving! Fulfill the promises you made to the Most High!Cry out to me whenever you are in trouble; I will deliver you, then you will honor me.”But to the wicked God says,“Why do you talk about my laws? Why do you even mention my covenant?You hate discipline, and you toss my words behind your back.You make friends with thieves whenever you see one; you spend your time with adulterers.You set your mouth free to do evil, then harness your tongue to tell lies.You sit around, talking about your own siblings; you find fault with the children of your very own mother.You’ve done these things and I’ve kept quiet. You thought I was just like you! But now I’m punishing you; I’m laying it all out, right in front of your face.So consider this carefully, all you who forget God, or I’ll rip you to pieces with no one to deliver you:The one who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving is the one who honors me. And it is to the one who charts the correct path that I will show divine salvation.”

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Psalm prayer

Psalm 57

Refrain: Exalt yourself, God, higher than heaven! Let your glory be over all the earth!

Have mercy on me, God; have mercy on me because I have taken refuge in you. I take refuge in the shadow of your wings until destruction passes by.I call out to God Most High— to God, who comes through for me.He sends orders from heaven and saves me, rebukes the one who tramples me. God sends his loyal love and faithfulness.My life is in the middle of a pack of lions. I lie down among those who devour humans. Their teeth are spears and arrows; their tongues are sharpened swords.Exalt yourself, God, higher than heaven! Let your glory be over all the earth!They laid a net for my feet to bring me down; they dug a pit for me, but they fell into it instead!My heart is unwavering, God— my heart is unwavering.I will sing and make music. Wake up, my glory! Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake the dawn itself!I will give thanks to you,my Lord, among all the peoples;I will make music to you among the nations because your faithful love is as high as heaven; your faithfulness reaches the clouds.Exalt yourself, God, higher than heaven! Let your glory be over all the earth!

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:Exalt yourself, God, higher than heaven! Let your glory be over all the earth!

Psalm prayer

Tender God,gentle protector in time of trouble,pierce the gloom of despairand give us, with all your people,the song of freedom and the shout of praise;in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament readingGenesis 24:1-27

As the days went by and Abraham became older, the Lord blessed Abraham in every way. Abraham said to the oldest servant of his household, who was in charge of everything he owned, “Put your hand under my thigh. By the Lord, God of heaven and earth, give me your word that you won’t choose a wife for my son from the Canaanite women among whom I live. Go to my land and my family and find a wife for my son Isaac there.”

The servant said to him, “What if the woman doesn’t agree to come back with me to this land? Shouldn’t I take your son back to the land you left?”

Abraham said to him, “Be sure you don’t take my son back there. The Lord, God of heaven—who took me from my father’s household and from my family’s land, who spoke with me and who gave me his word, saying, ‘I will give this land to your descendants’—he will send his messenger in front of you, and you will find a wife for my son there. If the woman won’t agree to come back with you, you will be free from this obligation to me. Only don’t take my son back there.” So the servant put his hand under his master Abraham’s thigh and gave him his word about this mission.

The servant took ten of his master’s camels and all of his master’s best provisions, set out, and traveled to Nahor’s city in Aram-naharaim. He had the camels kneel down outside the city at the well in the evening, when women come out to draw water. He said, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make something good happen for me today and be loyal to my master Abraham. I will stand here by the spring while the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water. When I say to a young woman, ‘Hand me your water jar so I can drink,’ and she says to me, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels water too,’ may she be the one you’ve selected for your servant Isaac. In this way I will know that you’ve been loyal to my master.” Even before he finished speaking, Rebekah—daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother—was coming out with a water jar on her shoulder. The young woman was very beautiful, old enough to be married, and hadn’t known a man intimately. She went down to the spring, filled her water jar, and came back up.

The servant ran to meet her and said, “Give me a little sip of water from your jar.”

She said, “Drink, sir.” Then she quickly lowered the water jar with her hands and gave him some water to drink. When she finished giving him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw some water for your camels too, till they’ve had enough to drink.” She emptied her water jar quickly into the watering trough, ran to the well again to draw water, and drew water for all of the camels. The man stood gazing at her, wondering silently if the Lord had made his trip successful or not.

As soon as the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold ring, weighing a half shekel, and two gold bracelets for her arms, weighing ten shekels. He said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

She responded, “I’m the daughter of Bethuel, who is the son of Milcah and Nahor.” She continued, “We have plenty of straw and feed for the camels, and a place to spend the night.”

The man bowed down and praised the Lord: “Bless the Lord, God of my master Abraham, who hasn’t given up his loyalty and his faithfulness to my master. The Lord has shown me the way to the household of my master’s brother.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament readingMark 5:21-43

Jesus crossed the lake again, and on the other side a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. Jairus, one of the synagogue leaders, came forward. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded with him, “My daughter is about to die. Please, come and place your hands on her so that she can be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him.

A swarm of people were following Jesus, crowding in on him. A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a lot under the care of many doctors, and had spent everything she had without getting any better. In fact, she had gotten worse. Because she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. She was thinking, If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll be healed. Her bleeding stopped immediately, and she sensed in her body that her illness had been healed.

At that very moment, Jesus recognized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”

His disciples said to him, “Don’t you see the crowd pressing against you? Yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But Jesus looked around carefully to see who had done it.

The woman, full of fear and trembling, came forward. Knowing what had happened to her, she fell down in front of Jesus and told him the whole truth. He responded, “Daughter, your faith has healed you; go in peace, healed from your disease.”

While Jesus was still speaking with her, messengers came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying to Jairus, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher any longer?”

But Jesus overheard their report and said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.” He didn’t allow anyone to follow him except Peter, James, and John, James’ brother. They came to the synagogue leader’s house, and he saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “What’s all this commotion and crying about? The child isn’t dead. She’s only sleeping.” They laughed at him, but he threw them all out. Then, taking the child’s parents and his disciples with him, he went to the room where the child was. Taking her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Young woman, get up.” Suddenly the young woman got up and began to walk around. She was 12 years old. They were shocked! He gave them strict orders that no one should know what had happened. Then he told them to give her something to eat.

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticleThe Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Refrain:God, you have done great things and holy is your name.

With all my heart I glorify the Lord!In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favoredbecause the mighty one has done great things for me.Holy is his name.He shows mercy to everyone,from one generation to the next,who honors him as God.He has shown strength with his arm.He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.He has pulled the powerful down from their thronesand lifted up the lowly.He has filled the hungry with good thingsand sent the rich away empty-handed.He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,remembering his mercy, just as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.

Luke 1:46-55

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:God, you have done great things and holy is your name.

Brief silence

The Apostle’s Creed

Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead.On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,is seated at the right hand of the Father,and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy catholic church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers

Thanksgiving and intercession

Thanksgiving may be made for the day.Intercessions are offeredfor peacefor individuals and their needs

Response

Father, by your SpiritBring in your kingdom.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

O God, the protector of all who trust in you,without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:increase and multiply upon us your mercy;that with you as our ruler and guidewe may so pass through things temporalthat we lose not our hold on things eternal;grant this, heavenly Father,for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sinsas we forgive those who sin against us.Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil.For the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yoursnow and forever.Amen.

Conclusion

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,and the love of God,and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,be with us all evermore.Amen.